ADJUSTABLE DENTAL IMPRESSION TRAY WITH ADAPTIVE LOCK

Abstract

An improved dental impression tray system provides a way to accommodate multiple arch sizes. The tray is adjustable and has an anterior section with two distal ends and and a posterior section with two distal ends. The two sections are connected together at their distal ends. A mesh membrane extends between the sections to maintain the impression material. The ends of the posterior section include a plurality of vertical pins and a vertical opening is located adjacent each distal end of said anterior section. To adjust the size of the tray, the distal ends of the anterior section can be disconnected from said distal ends of the posterior section and then reconnected by inserting the pins into the opening. Further size adjustments can be made by removing additional pins and inserting the next remaining pins into the openings.

Claims

1. An adjustable dental impression tray comprised of: an anterior section and a posterior section, said sections lying essentially in a horizontal plane, each of said sections having a distal end; means connecting said sections together at said distal ends; said connecting means being comprised of one of said sections having a vertically extending opening and the other of said sections having at least one vertically extending pin adapted to slide vertically into said opening, said opening and said pin being of complementary shape.

2. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pin is located at the distal end of said posterior section and said opening is located at the distal end of said anterior section.

3. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein said pin and said opening are noncircular in cross-section.

4. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein said vertically extending opening includes a bottom wall which prevents said pin from passing entirely through said opening.

5. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 2 wherein said posterior section has a length and includes a plurality of said pins located along a portion of its length.

6. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 5 wherein a number of said pins can be removed but wherein at least one pin remains that is adapted to slide into said opening.

7. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 1 further including a horizontally arranged mesh membrane extending between said anterior and posterior sections.

8. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 1 further including a handle extending from said anterior section away from said posterior section.

9. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 1 wherein each of said sections has first and second distal ends, said first distal end of said anterior section being connected to said first distal end of said posterior section and said second distal end of said anterior section being connected to said second distal end of said posterior section.

10. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 9 wherein both distal ends are connected by vertically extending pins and openings.

11. An adjustable dental impression tray comprised of: an anterior section and a posterior section, said sections lying essentially in a horizontal plane, each of said sections having a distal end; means connecting said sections together at said distal ends; one of said sections having a vertically extending opening adjacent its distal end and the other of said sections having at least one vertically extending pin adjacent its distal end, said opening and said pin being of complementary shape.

12. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 11 wherein the distal end of said anterior section can be disconnected from said distal end of said posterior section and then reconnected by inserting said pin into said opening.

13. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 12 wherein said pin and said opening are noncircular in cross-section.

14. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 12 wherein said vertically extending opening includes a bottom wall which prevents said pin from passing entirely through said opening.

15. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 12 wherein said posterior section has a length and includes a plurality of said pins located along a portion of its length.

16. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 15 wherein a number of said pins can be removed but wherein at least one pin remains that is adapted to slide into said opening.

17. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 11 further including a horizontally arranged mesh membrane extending between said anterior and posterior sections.

18. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 1 further including a handle extending from said anterior section away from said posterior section.

19. The adjustable dental impression tray as claimed in claim 11 wherein each of said sections has first and second distal ends, said first distal end of said anterior section being connected to said first distal end of said posterior section and said second distal end of said anterior section being connected to said second distal end of said posterior section.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the accompanying drawings forms which are presently preferred; it being understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.

[0033] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a prior art dental impression tray upon which the present invention is an improvement;

[0034] FIG. 2 is a front prospective view of the dual arch adjustable dental impression tray with adaptive lock showing my invention;

[0035] FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but adjusted for a smaller mouth of a patient;

[0036] FIG. 4 is a bottom perspective view of the dual arch adjustable dental impression tray of FIG. 3;

[0037] FIG. 5 is an exploded view similar to FIG. 2 but with parts removed in order to illustrate the manner in which adjustments to the size of the tray can be made;

[0038] FIG. 6 is a partial top view of the adaptive lock that forms part of the invention, and

[0039] FIG. 7 is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of the adjustable dental impression tray with adaptive lock of the invention showing a single arch.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0040] Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference numerals have been used throughout the various figures to designate like elements, there is shown in FIGS. 2-6 one embodiment of an adjustable dental impression tray with adaptive lock constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention and designated generally as 100. Before describing the same, however, it will be helpful to view FIG. 1 which shows a prior art dental tray 10 upon which the present invention is an improvement.

[0041] The dental tray 10 includes an anterior section 12 and a posterior section 14. The anterior section 12 has two distal ends 16 and 18 which are connected to the distal ends 20 and 22 of the posterior section 14. A mesh membrane 24 extends between the anterior and posterior sections 12 and 14 to support and maintain investment material thereon. A handle 26 extends from the anterior section 12.

[0042] While this prior art dental tray 10 is quite useful, it is not adjustable. Accordingly, a dentist or other dental professional must have multiple similar but different size trays available for every procedure. This creates the time and expense and frustration discussed above.

[0043] The adjustable dental impression tray 100 shown in FIGS. 2-6 overcomes these problems. For convenience, the numbers used in describing FIGS. 2-6 are the same as used in the description of FIG. 1 but preceded by a “1.” Thus, the tray 100 also includes an interior section 112 and a posterior section 114. These two sections 112 and 114 lie essentially in a horizontal plane. The distal ends 116 and 118 of the anterior section 112 are connected to the distal ends 120 and 122 of the posterior section 114. The tray 100 also includes a horizontally arranged mesh membrane 124 and the anterior section 112 preferably includes a handle 126.

[0044] In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2, the anterior and posterior sections 112 and 114 (along with the mesh 124) are all molded together. That is, the distal ends 116 and 118 of the anterior section 112 are molded to the distal ends 120 and 122 of the posterior section 114. However, these molded connections are frangible so that the ends can be broken away from each other in order to adjust the size of the tray 100 as will be explained below. It is not beyond the scope of the present invention, however, to mold the two pieces separately which would then require that the mesh membrane 124 be attached afterwards.

[0045] FIG. 2 illustrates the dental impression tray 100 in its largest condition. The manner in which adjustments are made to the tray 100 to make it smaller is illustrated best in the remaining figures. More particularly, located along the length of the posterior section 114 adjacent both of the distal ends 120 and 122 are a plurality of vertically extending pins such as shown at 128, 130, 132 and 134. These pins are separated by smaller intermediate portions such as shown at 136 and 138. While only two such pins and intermediate portions are shown, it should be readily apparent that there may be more than two or only one such pin and intermediate portion.

[0046] The distal ends 116 and 118 of the anterior section 112 each include a vertically extending opening such as shown at 140 and 142. The openings 140 and 142 are complementary in shape to the pins on the posterior section 114. As shown best in FIGS. 5 and 6, once the distal ends of the anterior and posterior sections are broken away from each other, the pins 128 and 132 can be slid down into the openings 140 and 142 at the distal ends of the anterior section 112. In FIG. 5, the mesh membrane has been removed strictly for illustration purposes.

[0047] It can also be seen from the figures, that the very distal ends of the anterior section 112 include vertically extending slots 144 and 146 which allow the intermediate portions 136 and 138 of the posterior section 114 to pass down therethrough. Similarly, the innermost part of the openings 140 and 142 include additional elongated slots 148 and 150 which accommodate the end portions 152 and 154 of the posterior section 114. In this way, any sharp edges on the ends of the posterior section after it is cut, are encapsulated by the slots so that they do not impinge, harm, cut, or otherwise cause pain to the patient . . . all of which can interfere with the accuracy of the impression

[0048] While FIG. 2 shows the dental tray 100 in its largest condition, FIGS. 5 and 6 show the same in an intermediate size as only one pin from the posterior section 114 is inserted into the openings of the anterior section. On the other hand, FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate the smallest condition wherein the first pin is removed and the second pin 134 is inserted into the opening 142. Thus, the dental tray 100 of FIG. 2 can be adjusted to three different sizes. Obviously with more pins on the posterior section 114, additional smaller sizes are also possible. Furthermore, the entire dental tray 100 can be made in multiple sizes such as small, medium and large thereby allowing for multiple different size trays to be created.

[0049] The pins and intermediate or end portions of the posterior section 114 cannot, of course, pass down all the way through the openings in the distal ends of the anterior section. This is accomplished by having both the ledges 156 and 158 and the lower walls 160 and 162 as shown most clearly in FIG. 4. These components 156, 158, 160 and 162 could all be considered bottom walls. Furthermore, while the circular members 128 and 132, for example, have been referred to as pins while the intermediate portions 136 and 138 or the end portions 152 and 154 have been referred to as other components, all of these can be considered pins. That is, for example, the element 132 and end portion 154 along with the intermediate portion 138 can collectively be considered a pin. This “pin” is, therefore, not circular in cross-section. As a result, and particularly because of the end portion 154 entering the additional slot 150 in the opening 142, the same becomes more stable as it cannot freely rotate about the vertical axis of the element 132. It provides for a much more stable and rigid connection.

[0050] While the dental tray 100 shown in FIGS. 2-6 is essentially for both left and right arches and both top and bottom teeth, it should be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the same concepts can be used for only the upper or only the lower utilizing a design closer to that shown in FIG. 1 but with the adjustable means or it can be designed to be used as a single arch such as illustrated in the embodiment shown at 200 in FIG. 7.

[0051] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof and accordingly, reference should be made to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing specification as indicating the scope of the invention.